Lame duck? Senate to vote on Keystone pipeline, NSA reform

(FILES) This March 2, 2014 file photo shows students protesting against the proposed Keystone XL pipelinerally in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington,DC.(AFP Photo / Nicholas Kamm) / AFP

Republicans are set to take over the Senate next year, but the chamber is gearing up to make the lame duck session eventful: lawmakers will vote on the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline bill next week, as well as another to curb domestic surveillance.

The XL pipeline will transport oil from the tar sands of Canada
to the Gulf of Mexico, and has been hailed as a job creator by
supporters. However, critics claim the project would at most
yield 2,000 jobs over a two-year period, destroy farms in
America’s heartland, and risk contaminating groundwater aquifers.

The project is backed by the oil industry, which is a major
player in Louisiana’s economy and politics, and popular with the
state’s residents. That combination also helps explain why the
Senate is taking the issue up for a vote in its lame duck
session.

Democrats had previously failed to bring the Keystone legislation
up for a vote, but Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu – a Democratic
sponsor of the bill – is keen to win a run-off vote for her
Senate seat, and pressed for a vote next week. She is hoping to
distance herself from the Obama administration in order to win
over conservative voters in her state, but her competitor in the
House, Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), also called for a vote this
week on the controversial bill.

Both politicians are hoping the votes will help them curry favor
with voters in their Senate runoff.

So far, the bill has lacked votes to overcome a presidential
veto, and Obama has urged a thorough study of the environmental
impact of the pipeline before making a decision.

The vote had originally
been scheduled for January, but Landrieu changed all of that
Wednesday afternoon when she said,“I don’t think we necessarily need
to wait until January.” She reached an agreement with
Democratic and Republican leaders to vote as early as next
Tuesday.

“I’m glad that we will now
have an up-or-down vote on the Hoeven-Landrieu bill to green
light the Keystone pipeline, and I urge all senators to join me
in the effort to approve this important project,” Landrieu said in a
statement.

Landrieu's Keystone vote: cause it'll either get her campaign
cash for the runoff or a SWEET sinecure if she loses.

Landrieu's Keystone vote: cause it'll either get her campaign
cash for the runoff or a SWEET sinecure if she loses.

Meanwhile, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) also announced he will seek a
full Senate vote on the USA Freedom Act, which will place some
limits on NSA surveillance. Specifically, the bill would create
more transparency and accountability when the government seeks
court approval for surveillance activities.

The bill would place metadata records – information such as the
time a call was made and the duration of the call, but not the
actual content of the call itself – in the possession of
telephone companies instead of the NSA. If intelligence agencies
wanted to gain access to the data, they would have to seek
approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA).

The bill would also allow public advocates to participate in
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) proceedings.
Additionally, the government would be required to disclose FISA
opinions and statistics about the extent of domestic spying
activities, although it could decline to publish them if it
decides it would damage national security.

“The American people are wondering whether Congress can get
anything done,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the lead sponsor
of the bill, told Vox.com. “The answer is yes. Congress can
and should take up and pass the bipartisan USA Freedom Act,
without delay.”

Although the House of Representatives passed the original draft,
Leahy further strengthened the bill at the behest of civil
liberties advocates. Notably, key reformers like Sen. Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.) have not thrown their support behind the bill, hoping
for stronger measures against the “backdoor” collection of
Americans’ data – something done indirectly when the primary
target is a foreigner.